Moga admn to supply 75K tonne straw to biomass plants

Tribune News Service

Moga, October 20

The district administration of Moga has set a target of supplying 75,000 tonne paddy straw to biomass plants during the ensuing harvesting season.

In a meeting with officials of various departments, Deputy Commissioner Harish Nayar said as per the report of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, it had been estimated that 18.78 lakh metric tonne of straw would be produced in Moga district this year, of which bales of 1.054 lakh tonne of straw would be made with automatic machines.

He said at present, there were 20 balers at the government level in the district and 14 balers at customer hiring centres. “A baler can make bales of 500 hectares throughout the season. One hectare yields 62 quintals of straw. Thus, 34 balers will make bales of 1.054 lakh tonnes of paddy straw,” he added.

The DC said the approximately 50,000 tonne and 25,000 tonne of straw bales could be sent to the biomass plants at Talwandi Bhai and Bajakhana, respectively. He sought the cooperation of all administrative officers and farmers for the purpose. He said if any farmer set afire the paddy straw, strict legal action would be initiated against him.